Supreme Court denies cert in Long John Silvers case
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused (PDF) expanded John Silver's petition to review a ruling by the Fourth Circuit that its former managers could proceed with a Rule 23-style opt-out class arbitration of their Fair Labor Standards Act claims.
The Fourth Circuit's ruling rejected LJS's argument that the FLSA's opt-in requirement (29 U.S.C. § 216(b)) is nonwaivable. In a 3-0 decision, the Fourth Circuit held that "[b]ecause there is a debatable contention that the FLSA's § 16(b) provision did not explicitly overrule the 'opt-out' feature of the arbitration agreement, the arbitrator did not ignore the FLSA or any spare applicable legal principles when he certified an 'opt-out' class."
